Introduction
Feminist theorists have contributed to international relations (IR) studies by re-assessing the roles that gender and women play in the international arena. They have explicitly noted gender biases in IR. By using various methodologies, including nontraditional avenues of inquiry, feminist IR re-defines the concepts of power, sovereignty, hegemony, and security. Feminist IR also helps unravel the means by which hegemonic masculinity has become embedded in IR politics. This short essay explores the ways feminist concepts and methodologies allow us to view IR not only from an abstract philosophical and historical point of view but also from the point of view of those who experience IR politics but are usually missing from its mainstream body of knowledge.
Feminist IR vs. “Mainstream IR”
Whereas security is traditionally understood to be at the top of the state’s list of priorities, and securitization is perceived as the domain of extraordinary measures defined by perceived...
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Further Reading
Cohn, C. (2013). Women and wars. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Elshtain, J. B. (1985). Reflections on war and political discourse: Realism, just war, and feminism in a nuclear age. Political Theory, 13(1), 39–57.
Enloe, C. (2014). Bananas, beaches and bases: Making feminist sense of International politics. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Steans, J. (2013). Gender and international relations: Theory, practice, policy (3rd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Polity.
Sylvester, C. (1992). Feminist theory and international relations in a postmodern era. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Tickner, J. A. (1992). Gender in international relations feminist perspectives on achieving global security. New York: Columbia University Press.
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Harel-Shalev, A. (2019). Feminist International Relations (IR) Theory. In: Romaniuk, S., Thapa, M., Marton, P. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Global Security Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74336-3_207-1
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